Beth Hall is the white adoptive mother of a Latina daughter and an African American son (both now young adults), and grew up with an adopted sister. She co-founded Pact in 1991 to combat the discrimination she witnessed against adopted children of color and their birth families. Since that time, she has facilitated the placement of over 1000 infants of color into strong, loving homes. She is the co-author, with Gail Steinberg, of the book Inside Transracial Adoption (Perspectives Press, 2000), as well as numerous articles on adoption and race. She is a nationally known advocate for adopted children of color who regularly lectures and leads workshops on ethical, non-racist adoption practices. In 2010 she received the Outstanding Practitioner in Adoption Award from the Adoption Initiative at St. John's University. To learn more about Beth including information about her publications, speaking engagements, and various film clips she has appeared in, click here.

Charlotte Aaron, Pact’s Office Administrator, has joined the Pact team because she is efficient and compassionate and she just plain gets it done! Charlotte is the single mother of a teen daughter and a brilliant chef (you should taste her Juneteenth cakes, and pies, mmm…). She is excited to be part of an organization that supports youth of color as they make their way in the world to become productive members of the larger community. As she says; "Anytime I have the opportunity to work with young people I jump on it, they just bring joy to your day."

Jaciara Bayer, a transracial adoptee adopted from Brazil raised in a small minimally diverse town, has her B.A. in Psychology and is actively pursuing her Masters in Social Work. Upon initially joining Pact as camp counselor, Jaciara immediately felt an immense sense of connection as for the first time in her life, she witnessed her own experience played out before her, not as a minority but as a large, supported, and empowered group. Along with her life experience, Jaciara’s educational and professional background, provide her with a unique insight and passion for being an outlet of support for other adoptees and their families.

Aaryn Belfer is the editor of the Pact Point of View, Pact's e-Newsletter, and various other Pact communications. Aaryn works part-time by day as a clinical research coordinator, one member of a talented team looking for a cure for ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease). She is a writer by night, penning a biweekly column at San Diego CityBeat, and works as a copy editor and freelance writer during the witching hours. She likes to write, run, practice yoga, play tennis, travel, and do just about anything under the sun (except for bungee jumping, hot air ballooning, deep see diving, or laundry). Spending time with her transracially adopted daughter, Ruby, and her husband, Sam is paramount to everything. No matter what hat she is wearing, she approaches all tasks with an eye on social justice, anti-racism, and equality, including advocating appropriately on behalf of the often-marginalized members of the adoption triad: adoptees and first parents.

David Berwick, a Colombian adoptee, has a background in non-profit, business, and website administration. His personal experience as an adopted person who came to the US at age five has made him a compassionate individual who values diversity and the nuanced approach to adoption and race that Pact embodies. Based on his own experience as a child placed with his two siblings into a white American family, he understands the importance of giving children access to their truth and voice to their feelings about adoption and race.

Cheryl Fabio received a JD from John F. Kennedy's School of Law in 2009, where she specialized in Public Interest Law. She has worked extensively in film, television and video production; probably her most treasured professional position was serving as the Program Director for Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, Inc. She is an adoptive grandmother who values the education Pact provides about her grandchildren's lifetime journey. She is committed to Pact's mission to ensure that African Americans' place at the adoption table is recognized and valued.

Attallah Hill, who became a mother in 2007, is happy to be working for an organization that supports children and families of color however they are formed. She is a certified bookkeeper with experience in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors.

Marsha Hiller is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a private practice in North Berkeley. She specializes in working with multiracial families, adoptive families, and the LGBTQ community. She is also faculty at John F. Kennedy University. At Pact, she leads groups for and provides counseling to transracial adoptive parents.

Susan Ito is a biracial Asian adoptee, teacher, and writer. She has served as the beloved director of Pact Camp from 2004 to 2011 and is now Head of Pact's Adult Adoptee Advisory Board. She is also a board member of Pact, and on the advisory team for the Adoption Museum Project. Her book "A Ghost At Heart's Edge is one of the few literary anthologies focused on all members of the adoption triad. Her writing has appeared in many publications, including Growing Up Asian American, CHOICE, Making More Waves, Hip Mama and Literary Mama,where she is creative nonfiction editor and former columnist. Susan's solo performance piece on adoption, The Ice Cream Gene, has been performed nationally. She lives in Oakland with her husband, two daughters and mother.

Lisa Kelly, a biracial (Black/white) adoptee, has a Masters in Early Childhood Education and is a 5th grade teacher in Berkeley Unified School District. She and her brother were adopted transracially by white parents. Lisa understands the importance of adoptees of color coming together to collectively explore and learn about their culture, ancestry, and identity.

Deanna Matthews is a biracial (African American/white) single parent who has found great commonality between her own experience of racial ambiguity and that of many adoptees of color. She brings that understanding to all her work at Pact, as well as a passion for educating adults and supporting children in defining their identity in positive ways in a racialized world. She has been involved in organizing Pact Family Camp since 2009, and became Camp Director in 2011.

Kenny Moore is an African American man who has spent the last ten years of his life mentoring and educating youth, with a particular focus on youth of color and/or impacted by adoption and foster care. As a man of color he understands the critical components of a successful journey of identity and empowerment for these young people, and he is committed to teaching them not only who they are in this moment but where they have come from in history while providing them with the life tools they need to build their self-esteem and find their full potential as human beings. Kenny is a favorite with many of Pact’s youth because he “get’s them” and provides them with such a strong example as a proud African American man.

Kim Olenic, LCSW, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who works with adoptive parents, birthparents, and adoptees of all ages in agency and private practice settings. She specializes in the areas of domestic adoption, international adoption and transracial adoption. Kim is also a transracial adoptee, who was adopted from South Korea at the age of three. She has gone through the birth parent search process, and was reunited with her birthmother as a teenager. Her professional training coupled with her personal experience as a transracial adoptee gives her a dynamic understanding of adoption as a lifelong journey.

Malaika Parker works with adoptive parents of color (and their parenting partners) to design resources and create community for same-race adoptive families. As an African American adoptive parent, she understands how hard-and important-it is for same-race adoptive parents to find resources that apply to their own family dynamics as opposed to those that apply to transracial families.

Michele Rabkin and her African American husband adopted their multiracial daughter with help from Pact. Michele is tremendously grateful for all that Pact does to create and support families like her own. In addition to working as a university administrator, she does free-lance writing and editing for Pact and other organizations she cares about.

Katie Wynen, MSW, a Colombian adoptee, has a Masters in Social Work. After college, Katie worked at Hyde School in CT where she helped design a program for adopted youth and parents. Katie studied under Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao in Boston before moving to California and joining the Pact staff where she leads groups, works with tweens and teens and provides psycho-educational counseling to pre-adoptive parents.